The Federation of Zko is a mid-sized, environmentally stunning nation, renowned for its compulsory vegetarianism, compulsory military service, and keen interest in outer space. The compassionate, democratic population of 87 million Zkoans love a good election, and the government gives them plenty of them. Universities tend to be full of students debating the merits of various civil and political rights, while businesses are tightly regulated and the wealthy viewed with suspicion.

The large, socially-minded, outspoken government juggles the competing demands of Administration, Education, and Welfare. The average income tax rate is 66.2%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The sizeable but sluggish Zkoan economy, worth 2.66 trillion ⋖$s a year, is driven entirely by a combination of government and state-owned industry, with private enterprise illegal. The industrial sector, which is quite specialized, is dominated by the Information Technology industry, with significant contributions from Book Publishing, Tourism, and Trout Farming. Average income is 30,611 ⋖$s, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

The government is continually probing the galaxy in search of alien life, all guns must be registered, the police have been known to wiretap confessional boxes, and no one engages in 'locker room talk' any more. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a capable police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Zko's national animal is the Zkoan Ape, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

Zko is ranked 301,570^th in the world and 149^th in The Order of the Grey Wardens for Largest Populations, with 87.0 million capita.